A court of appeal in at Douai in northern France has overruled an earlier decision that had annulled a marriage between a Muslim couple because the wife had lied about being a virgin.

The case was previously heard in a court at Lille in April this year. The court heard that while the wedding party was in full swing at the families home the groom a computer engineer came downstairs and complained that his new bride was not the virgin she had claimed to be as he was unable to display a blood stained sheet which is traditionally used by Muslims as proof of the bride's 'purity'.

The bride a trainee nurse had at first resisted pressure for an annulment but later admitted that she had lied about being a virgin.

At the original hearing in Lille the court ruled that the bride had lied over what is described in French law as being "an essential quality" and so annulled the marriage.

At the time there was outrage across France over the ruling with Valerie Letard the Minister for Women's Rights in France saying that she was "shocked to see that today in France the civil law can be used to diminish the status of women".

At the court of appeal the judge ruled that being a virgin "is not an essential quality in that its absence has no repercussion on matrimonial life". Now that the rulling has been overturned the couple are in effect still married and will have to seek a divorce.


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